When Time Stops, Life Moves Forward
by Rose's.wings
Summary: In the pursuit of justice Amelia gets a concussion and begins to act even sillier then usual much to her friends' distress. But maybe some good will come of this if it forces a certain chimera to come to grips with what's weighing so heavily on his heart


My very first Slayers story. YEAH! My little sister and I have become somewhat obsessed with Slayers recently and I'd figure I'd put that obsession to good use with the help of the written word. So here you are. It is long, but I'm going with the rule that most high school English teachers use when you ask them how long a paper needs to be; as long as it takes. Well it took twenty-fives pages in Microsoft word. One, no, two more special things about this story; first it has music to match, which I've listed below, and second, I've planned a multi-chaptered sequel called _Stay With Me_. Look for it later (Maybe even much later). I hope you love _When Time Stops_! (Cuz I do!)

Songs for the Story : _Hurricane_ and _Edge of Love_ by Mindy Smith, _Thump, Thump_ by Jewel, and _Jump Then Fall_ by Taylor Swift; in that order.

* * *

When Time Stops, Life Moves Forward

...

A Slayers Oneshot

...

Have you ever felt time stop? When all the things surrounding you have suddenly become unimportant in the face of one awful circumstance? If you haven't, it is a rather interesting feeling. Your attention focuses in on a single thing and everything outside of that one focal point becomes gray in the periphery. Your heart beats loud and slow in your ears, like a metronome, timing the world around you. It beats so slowly that for an instant you think it will stop all together.

Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

But then you notice that everything around you is slowing too. The leaves which had been rustling nervously in the wind all morning now take an hour to sway back and forth. Your legs, which had worked perfectly fine before this whole mess had started, now take an eternity to leave the ground, as if you are walking through molasses in January. And the sword which was bearing down on Amelia's neck with enough force to separate it permanently from her body moved with all the speed allotted to suspenseful horror movies.

But maybe I have carried this analogy to far, because of course not _all_ of that has happened to you.

However it _was _happening to Zelgadis.

"Amelia!" Lina's voice cut through the air so slowly that Zelgadis almost saw the sound waves. "Get out of the way!"

Amelia's mouth opened, as if she wanted to scream, but no sound came out. Her muscles trembled as if she was trying to do as Lina said, but she could not move. She could not even lean back far enough to fall on her backside (which, while embarrassing, would have taken her neck out of the arc of the sword's fall).

Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

Zelgadis continued struggling to move; to reach Amelia in time to block the rogue troll's blade.

Tha-thump. Tha-thump.

The sword fell.

Tha-thump.

And time snapped back to its normal speed.

"AMELIA!"

Tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump tha-thump.

Amelia closed her eyes not wanting the last thing she saw to be a slobbering, nasal green troll with her blood on its sword. A raucous scream pierced her ears as she threw her arms over her head in a futile gesture of protection against the broad sword bearing down on her head.

But before she felt the sword's bite in her skin, a massive weight hit her side with all the force of a falling mountain. Her breath was shoved from her chest and a rock jabbed into her back when she hit the ground, sandwiched between the rocky earth and the massive weight. She tried to see what it was that was busy crushing her ribcage but swirling black whirlpools were spinning in front of her eyes.

Distantly Amelia heard Lina yell out, "Fireball!" The troll's howl of pain made Amelia's befogged brain think that either the brute had run off or been incinerated by Lina's spell.

"Amelia, hey Amelia, are you okay?" A man's voice asked her worriedly as he patted her smartly on the cheek. Amelia couldn't stop her befuddled brain from thinking it was the wrong man trying to wake her up. "Come on Amelia. I didn't think I hit you that hard." Gourry said more to himself then to the semi conscious Amelia.

"Amelia. Breathe." A harsh voice ordered desperately.

Ah, there was the right man.

Amelia chocked out a cough before she managed to remember how to pull air into her aching lungs. She gulped down air greedily, hoping to ease the pain in her chest. Three relieved sighs told her that her friends were standing over her, watching her worriedly.

_"At least they care."_ Amelia thought. Sometimes she wondered, but looking back that was mainly when Miss Lina was after something, namely food. Just because Lina was hungry did not mean Amelia should think little of her friends.

"Amelia you little idiot!" Zelgadis yelled angrily. "Of all the bone headed, stupid, moronic things to do. What were you thinking charging a mad troll? Did you even remember their healing abilities or did you just forget to think altogether?!" He roared.

Amelia stared up at him in a daze. "Mister Zelgadis what-?" She tried to ask, but then cringed as her head throbbed where she had hit the ground. She reached up and felt a large bump already forming on the back of her skull. "Ow." She muttered.

Zelgadis looked guilty for yelling at her.

Lina glared at him as Gourry helped Amelia to her feet. "Just chill Zel. Amelia always charges into things without thinking, especially when there are innocent victims around. Hey," she wondered looking around the grassy area that had recently been their battleground, "where'd that guy go anyway?"

"Oh him?" Gourry said, keeping a steadying hand on Amelia's arm, as she continued to hold her head and totter unsteadily on her feet. "He ran as soon as the troll started trying to hack Amelia to pieces."

Which brought Zelgadis's glare back in full force.

"Hey guys," Gourry cut off any more angry ranting with a worried look at Amelia. "I think something's wrong with Amelia. She can't stand up straight."

Lina, Zelgadis, and Gourry gathered close and peered at Amelia intensely. "You okay Amelia?" Lina asked worriedly.

"I, I thin-k sooo." Amelia's 'so' had a few too many 'whoas' in it. "But my head really hurts." She mumbled.

Lina smacked Gourry upside the head. "You jellyfish brain! You gave her a concussion." She yelled at him.

Gourry scratched distractedly at the spot where Lina had whacked him. "Well sorry, but considering she was about to be decapitated by a troll I think she got off easy." He pointed out.

Lina would have argued except that Gourry had a point.

"Well can't you just cast a healing spell on her?" Gourry asked when Lina did not say anything.

Lina sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "I could, but Recovery uses the patient's own body to heal them by maximizing the rate of their healing for a short amount of time, and afterwards their real tired until their immune system steadies out again."

"So..." Gourry tried to reason out how that kept Lina from casting the spell on Amelia.

"So I specialize in black magic and while my Recovery is good, it isn't the best one out there. If I don't heal her completely on the first go then her body may be too worn out to finish the job. I think it would be safer if we found someone who specializes in white magic instead." She suggested with an anxious look at Amelia.

"What d'you think Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, concern bleeding into his anger. "Can you make it to the next town for a healer?"

Amelia gave him a loopy smile. "When did you grow whiskers Mister Zelgadis? They're so cuuuute. You look like a kitty cat." She cooed reaching out unsteadily to pull at Zelgadis's 'whiskers'.

Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis exchanged worried, wide eyed looks. "Time to go." Lina said beginning to walk toward the road they had left when Amelia first saw the troll attacking a fellow traveler. Gourry and Zelgadis nodded quickly and between the two of them convinced the loopy Amelia to follow the sparklies that apparently were coming off Lina's mantle.

* * *

It only took them a handful of minutes to reach the next town. Although as they looked at the tiny clump of buildings with its one and only dirt street the three travelers able to think clearly decided that 'town' was too big of a word for this place. 'Village' came closer but still made one think of a much larger settlement.

"Gee, I wonder if they have a healer at all?" Gourry asked as he glanced at the ramshackle houses in front of him.

Lina would have liked to say that of course they did. What with all the trolls that lived in the nearby wood it would have been stupid to live so close without someone to heal injuries caused by aforementioned trolls.

But looking around she wondered if maybe the reason this place was so small was because it did not have a medic. "I dunno." She told him instead. "Hey, hey you there! Do you guys have a healer around?" Lina yelled out to a small boy walking across the street.

The boy stopped and cocked his head at Lina's question. "I dunno, what's a healer?" He asked completely serious.

Lina pitched forward and fell flat on her face, her legs twitching in the air.

"It's a person who helps sick people." Gourry said taking the question seriously. "Got anyone like that? Our friend hurt her head."

The boy closed one eye in thought. It was a minute before a big smile of revelation appeared on his young face. "Oh yeah! You're looking for Mrs. Lockly." He said.

"And where can we find Mrs. Lockly?" Zelgadis asked trying to remain patient with the small boy.

The boy smiled. "Oh she's not here right now."

This time, everybody fell down twitching, except Amelia, who clapped childishly. She thought she had just won the game. She _was_ the only one not covered in mud after all.

"She had to go to the Bradune yesterday." The boy said as the three brushed themselves off. "A bunch of people there got sick, but Mist is here. Mist is Mrs. Lockly's apprentice."

"Great." Lina said. In her experience, dealing with apprentices was not the best idea when someone was sick or hurt. They tended to freak out or make mistakes. Usually both.

After getting further directions from the little boy, Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis took off down the street to the hut that was Mrs. Lockly's clinic with a singing Amelia in tow.

A slender young woman with blonde hair and wearing a medic's blue and white robe answered the door. "Can I help you?" She asked. Lina thought she had a deep voice for a teenage girl.

"Excuse me young lady but are you Mist, the healer's apprentice?" Lina asked cautiously.

The apprentice's face went flatter then a day old soda. "I'm a man." The apprentice said flatly.

"Oh, sorry." Lina said embarrassed.

Oops.

And Zelgadis thought he had issues. "Then uh, can you tell us where to find the healer's apprentice?" Zelgadis asked, hoping to forget this whole mess as quickly as possible.

"You're looking at him." The man said dryly.

"You're name is Mist?" Gourry asked with his usual tact, giving the man a look as if he thought the stranger was messing with them.

"It's short for Mister."

The stared at him. "I am so sorry." Lina said.

Mister shrugged. "My parents thought they were being funny." He said with a slanted look at Amelia who was talking with someone the others could not see. "Now do you want my help or not?"

"Wheeeeee!" Amelia yelled as she began to spin in circles. She giggled girlishly and staggered sideways into Zelgadis who steadied her before she could flop over. "He, he. I almost fell down." She tittered.

Mister raised an eyebrow at them.

"Alright yes, yes, we'll take any help you can offer Mister. Just fix Amelia. She hit her head and now she's acting even more like a maniac then usual." Lina said with another worried look at Amelia.

Mister gave then another hard look (he was still mad at them for the 'young lady' comment) but then stepped out of their way and waved them inside. "There's a cot on the far wall. Just sit your friend down there and I'll be right back." He told them.

The apprentice had returned before the others had convinced Amelia to take a seat on the cot.

"But I'm not tired." She protested even as her knees threatened to give way from under her.

"That's good." Mister said coming to kneel in front of her as he gently sat her down on the well kempt cot. "Because you can't go to sleep yet." He told her.

She looked up dazedly at the stranger and her friends noticed that one of her pupils was larger then the other, making her look like a crazed owl. "Why not?" She asked Mister as he stood up to inspect her head.

Mister smiled at her, his surly look replaced with one that had Amelia giggling nonsensically again. "Because if you fall asleep we won't be able to talk. Don't you want to talk with me Miss Amelia?" He asked with a mischievous light in his eyes.

Amelia giggled again.

"Oh he's good." Gourry whispered behind his hand to Lina.

"Yeah, I can see why Amelia's falling to pieces." Lina answered back.

Zelgadis snorted furiously. _"Shameless flirt."_ He thought to himself. _"Amelia wouldn't fall for this nonsense if she was herself."_

Herself or not, Amelia continued to giggle at Mister's semi flirtatious words as he inspected her head. It did not take him long to find the root of the problem. Or bump rather.

"Ow." Amelia whined, reaching up to move Mister's hand away from her injury.

"I think the correct word is wow." Mister said brushing Amelia's half hearted hand away. "You really smacked your head. What did you do? Play baseball with trolls and loose?" He asked kidding.

"Sort of." Lina said.

Zelgadis, thinking that how Amelia had been hurt was none of Mister's business, snapped from where he leaned against the wall, "Are you going to help her or not?"

Lina and Gourry gave their friend anxious looks at his unusual mood, but Mister hardly glanced up from Amelia's dark head. "I will, however in her state there's only so much magic will do. Her body will need to take care of the rest so it will take a few days before she's completely well. She can stay here until then but I would recommend that the rest of you go to Sallmine to sleep."

"What?" Zelgadis demanded.

"Sallmine?" Gourry asked with a curious look at Lina, who only shrugged her shoulders. She was not familiar with the town.

"It's the next town over, about an hour away. If you go now you should be able to get a good room before they're all taken. Sallmine sits along the road between Conerton and Mallemey," he named two of the biggest cities in the area, "and a lot of people stop at Sallmine when they travel between the two."

"But we can't just leave her here." Lina protested. "Can't you just cast a Recovery spell so she'll be as good as new? Or at least so she stops seeing talking rodents?"

"Hello Harvey." Amelia said with a wave towards the open, empty, door.

"Oka-ay." Lina said with another wide eyed look at Amelia. "So she needs to stay a few nights-"

"At least seven."

This brought on more disbelieving looks, the only difference being that these were directed at Mister.

"Seven?" Zelgadis asked a slight edge of paranoia making him suspect ulterior motives.

Mister nodded. "Maybe ten. If she's not better by then you can begin to worry."

_"Too late."_ Lina thought to herself. "But why do we have to stay in another town?" She demanded.

Mister gestured towards the front door and the town, er village, (settlement maybe?) beyond. "Do we look like we have an inn?" He asked incredulously.

Lina scratched at the back of her head and stared at the floor. "No..." She mumbled.

He nodded at her. "Exactly, all of you wouldn't fit in here. Maybe one of you could sleep on the floor if you curl into a ball the size of a cat but the roof leaks and it's rained every night since March-"

"Fine."

Mister looked up in surprise at Zelgadis. Lina and Gourry did the same. "What?" Lina asked.

Zelgadis almost wished he had kept his mouth shut, but then Amelia started singing deliriously again. "We can't just leave Amelia alone in a strange place in the state she's in. Knowing her, hallucinating or not, she'll wander off and get herself into some kind of trouble. One of us should stay here at least until she can see straight. I'll-"

Lina smacked her fist into her other palm in her gesture of 'of course!' "You're right Zel. I'll stay tonight." She yelled before Zelgadis could say another word.

"I'll stay tomorrow." Gourry yelled.

Zelgadis sighed at Lina's impetuousness. "Fine, I'll stay with her the night after that." He said.

Mister was the only one not pleased with the arrangement.

Lina smiled widely. "Good, that's settled then. Well come on Mister get to work before your patient wanders off to go defend justice."

He thought she was kidding.

* * *

That night Lina huddled under her mantel on the dirt floor of the healer's hut. Unfortunately Mister had been right about the rain and the roof. The whisper of the falling water was almost soothing, but the constant plips and plops as the water leaked in the roof ruined the harmony and made it impossible for Lina to fall asleep. The cold (which had led to the aforementioned huddling) did not help whatsoever.

There was a slight moan and the rustle of starched sheets as Amelia stretched restlessly and flopped over onto her other side, making Lina look up. From her vantage place on the floor Lina could only see the top of Amelia's black hair.

_"Apparently she can't sleep well either."_ Lina thought as she tried to find a more comfortable position on the floor. She could not find one.

Earlier that afternoon, before Gourry and Zelgadis had left Mister had cast his healing spell. Amelia had improved enough after that she stopped seeing 'Harvey' however she still couldn't walk a straight line to save her life and she kept telling Lina how pretty her hair was now that she had dyed it purple.

With another cautious look at her hair (which thankfully was still its normal chestnut color) Lina sighed. This trip had gotten seriously out of hand. _"Sheesh, you go and save the world without any serious injuries and then you take on one little crazed troll and Amelia thinks I'm purple and Zelgadis is part cat. Why can't we just enjoy one normal journey without stuff like this happening? Okay so a normal journey would be boring. Semi normal then."_ Lina thought to herself as she stared at the ceiling. A star or two blinked at her between the patchy thatch as the clouds finally began to clear, taking their pattering rain with them. With another tired sigh Lina put her hands under her head and closed her eyes to try and get some sleep.

The soft sound of muffled footsteps of someone trying to be sneaky ruined any chance of sleep. _"Aw now what?"_ Lina whined quietly to herself.

Cracking one eye open, Lina saw a white robed figure making his careful way across the dirt floor. As she watched curiously, Mister picked his way across the room towards Amelia's cot.

_"What is he doing up at this hour?"_ Lina thought. _"Might as well find out since I'm never going to be able to sleep in this place."_ She decided.

So when Mister took an exaggerated step over Lina's ankles, she raised one foot and tripped him.

He landed with a yelp and a thud on the floor that had Amelia shooting up out of her bed with her own startled scream. She pulled the sheets close to her chest and looked around wildly, like a child waking from a nightmare and wondering if the monster had followed her into reality.

"What? Where am I?" She asked, sounding more like herself then she had all afternoon. With her wild search of the little room it was not long before she spotted her friend on the floor. "Miss Lina? What's going on? Where are we? And who's he?" She asked finally catching sight of Mister sprawled out on the floor.

Lina smiled, relieved. At least Amelia was back to her normal old self.

Amelia peered through the gloom at Lina. "And why is you hair purple? It's pretty."

Lina sighed. _"So much for normal."_ She thought disparagingly. "Don't you remember anything from this morning? It's your fault we're in this mess at all. How can you not remember _anything_?" Lina demanded, her voice getting louder as she got angrier.

With a look on her face that said she _knew_ she probably should not admit it, Amelia shook her head. "Nope, not a thing. Why, what happened?"

"You were nearly decapitated by a troll!" Lina yelled, her voice shaking water from the roof.

"It's not unusual for people with concussions to forget things like this." Mister spoke as he pushed himself off the floor, rubbing his nose where he had landed on it. "And yelling certainly won't help so if you'll kindly shut up?" He asked Lina irritated.

Lina's eyes burned furiously. "What did you say you little dweeb? Just who do you think you're talking to? And besides, what are _you_ doing sneaking around at this hour huh?"

Mister glared at Lina. "I was going to wake up your friend to make sure she hadn't slipped into a coma." He bit back.

"Would you both quit yelling? You're making my head hurt." Amelia complained weakly, putting her hands over her ears to try and block out at least some of the noise Mister and Lina were making.

The two others shared a nasty set of glares, but reluctantly let off arguing. Mister turned to Amelia with a smile so quickly that Lina nearly tripped over his about face. "And how are you feeling Miss Amelia? Does your head still hurt?" He asked gently.

Amelia started to nod but stopped in time to keep her head from falling off her shoulders. "Yes." She answered pitifully.

Mister sat down next to her and inspected her head and eyes. Lina saw that her friend's pupils were still owlish. "Can you tell me your name?" He asked her.

"You already know my name." Amelia said sounding tired.

"Alright, how old are you?" Mister asked instead as he brushed aside her hair to get a better look at her bump.

"Sixteen no wait, seventeen." Amelia murmured.

Mister gave Lina a worried look, which she quickly waved away. "Don't worry about it. Her birthday was only last week. It still hasn't sunk in yet." Lina told him.

Amelia suddenly giggled. "Hey mister grumpy gills..." she sang under her breath.

Mister raised an eyebrow at Lina.

She smiled nervously. "Alright so feel free to worry any time you like. I still say she was never all there to begin with." She muttered that last part more to herself then to Mister.

"Ah now that's not fair Miss Lina." Amelia said as Mister ushered her back into bed and pulled the sheet up to her chin. "You're just as crazy as I am." The princess said with a wide smile at her friend.

Lina glowered at her. "Thanks Amelia. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome." Amelia said snuggling down into the bed covers.

Mister stood. "Let her sleep. She's doing better, but she still needs rest to heal. If her condition changes let me know." He told Lina softly before making his way to the back room where he slept.

Lina sighed and scratched her head thoughtfully. _"Well might as well _try_ and sleep."_ She thought to herself as she lay back down on the floor and flopped an arm over her eyes.

She wasn't sure how long it was before Amelia's high pitched whisper intruded on Lina's mind. "Miss Lina." She whispered. "Hey Miss Lina, are you awake?"

Lina sighed. "I am now." She muttered.

"Oh, sorry."

Lina groaned as she propped herself up on her elbow so she could see Amelia's face over the thin cot mattress. "What's up Amelia? Why are you awake?" She asked.

"My head hurts too much to sleep and I wanted to talk to you." Amelia said softly.

The sad tone in Amelia's voice grabbed Lina's attention immediately. "Sure," She said sitting up so they could talk face to face. "What's up Amelia?"

Amelia leaned her chin on the meager headboard and stared somewhat crookedly at Lina. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked sounding very young.

Lina looked taken aback. "Wrong? What do you mean Amelia?"

The younger girl sighed roughly and Lina caught the silver glint of tears in the corners of Amelia's blue eyes. "Everyone is so angry with me. First Zelgadis yelled at me and then you. And I don't even know what I did wrong." She said, her tears leaving trails on her cheeks.

Lina immediately felt guilty for shouting at Amelia earlier. "Ah Amelia don't cry. I'm sorry I got so mad okay? I was just worried for you. You didn't do anything wrong. You just acted like yourself. If anything I should've known you were going to try and save that guy and helped you faster." Lina told her, reaching out to put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.

"It's not your fault Miss Lina." Amelia said doing her best to stop crying.

Lina smiled at her. "Well it's not yours either." Here she winked at Amelia. "I say it's the trolls fault for attacking innocent travelers and he got his just desserts for that wouldn't you say?"

Amelia managed a small smile. "Justice will always triumph over evil." She said, some of her righteous fire returning.

Lina grinned. "Now that's more like the Amelia _I_ know. Now how about you try and get some rest. The sooner you get better the sooner we leave this dinky place." Lina said climbing back down to the floor. She pulled the thin blanket Mister had let her borrow and rolled over onto her side so she faced Amelia's cot. "Night night Amelia." She said, cheerful despite her exhaustion.

Amelia smiled and nestled into her blankets. "Good night Lina."

But she still couldn't sleep.

"Miss Lina? Do you think Mister Zelgadis was worried for me too?" Amelia asked, anxious for the answer and yet afraid of it at the same time. Although in her current state she wouldn't have been able to tell you why she felt either way.

Lina opened one red eye and took in Amelia's distressed expression. She honestly did not know. She _thought_ Zel was worried for her. But just because she _thought_ something did not make it true (as often as she pretended otherwise).

But Lina also did not think that answer would help Amelia sleep. So she gave her friend a wide smile and said, "Of course. Zel's your friend. He's always worried for you, even when you're in control of what's happening."

A spark of understanding appeared in Amelia's blue eyes. "Oh, just like you and Mister Gourry." She said.

Lina felt her face turn so red she thought she was glowing in the dark. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." She nearly shouted, shooting upright and waving her arms out in front of her as if she could wipe away that statement. "W-what do you mean me and Gourry? There isn't anything between me and Gourry. What are you saying?" She demanded, finally remembering that it was well past midnight and people were trying to sleep.

Amelia's eyes stared to drift shut. "Oh, you know," She answered breathily.

"No, no I don't know. Enlighten me." Lina demanded, pressing her face close to her friends and wishing Amelia was well enough that she could just shake the answer out of her.

"Well," Amelia said slowly, her eyes almost closed, "Mister Gourry is your best friend. He would do anything for you. He _loves_ you Miss Lina."

"What? H-how do you know that?" Lina's voice was a squeak.

For a moment Lina thought that Amelia had fallen asleep, but then the smaller girl sighed almost dreamily. "It's so obvious." She stated.

"Not to me!" Lina interjected.

Amelia laughed lightly. "Yes it is, you're just afraid to admit it. You know better then the rest of us that he would follow you anywhere; do anything to make you happy as long as it won't hurt you. He defends you from everything, especially yourself. You should see the way he looks at you." She mumbled wistfully.

Lina fell back on her knees, her mouth wide open in absolute shock. Then she glared. "Well then why hasn't he told _me_ that? Seems I should know if someone loves me after all."

Amelia laughed softly again. "Because you would kick his butt if he did something you didn't want and he knows it. It's not like you have ever told him that you love him." Amelia mumbled.

"But I don't-" Lina started loudly but then stopped herself. Did she love him? She couldn't say. Amelia, having finally fallen asleep again, didn't ask her to finish her denial. _"Maybe I should figure out if I do love him or not before I bring this up again._"

With a weary body and a head too full of heavy thoughts to sleep, Lina lay back down on the floor and stared up through the holes in the ceiling.

_"Well I suppose there's one thing for certain,"_ she thought with a sigh, _"I'm sure not getting any sleep tonight."_

* * *

The morning's golden light poured through the holes in the hut's roof quicker then the rain had last night. Lina opened her sandy eyes and grimaced as a bird sang sweetly outside. Her head was pounding from sleep depravation and she could almost feel the bags hanging under her eyes. In her bone weary state it took her a moment to realize that the sunlight wasn't the only golden thing in the room.

"Wow Lina, you look awful." Gourry's voice came from somewhere to her right and she turned to face him.

Usually she would have pounded him just for saying that, but after last night's discussion with Amelia, Lina couldn't find it in her to hit someone that may actually _love_ her.

Plus she was too darned tired. "Thanks for noticing Gourry. This floor is so uncomfortable that it was practically biting me last time. I couldn't fall asleep until about an hour ago. I'm so tired I'm not even hungry." She said.

Gourry's shock showed all over his face. "Wow, and here I brought you some breakfast from the inn." He said holding out a hunk of bread and two apples out of a bag.

Lina suddenly changed her mind about not being hungry.

"So I take it you guys slept better then I did?" Lina asked around a mouthful of bread.

Gourry nodded. "Oh yeah, they had some real comfortable beds. I was out like a light." He said with a grin.

Lina smiled at the thought of sleeping in a soft bed and sighed wistfully. "Oh, that sounds wonderful. As much as I love you Amelia I'll be glad to sleep on something that doesn't resemble a medieval torture device."

Amelia roused herself from sleep long enough to say, "Wha-?" before she flopped back down on the bed.

"She didn't sleep much better then me." Lina explained, catching the worried look on Gourry's face. "So where's Zelgadis anyway? Didn't he come with you?"

Gourry's usually open face collapsed a bit. "He didn't come. Said he had something else to do but he wouldn't tell me what."

Lina's eyebrows came together in thought. "But what could he have to do that's so important that he couldn't come and visit Amelia?" She asked.

Gourry shrugged. "I don't know, but he looked like he had something big on his mind."

Lina put her hand to her head and sighed explosively. "Ah Zel," She moaned. "Why couldn't you remember stuff like this _after_ Amelia comes to her senses? Well, what's left of them anyway." She mumbled to herself.

"Well what should we do?" Gourry asked when Lina didn't speak again.

"Hmm..." Lina said thinking.

Gourry leaned forward, wondering what in the world Lina would come up with this time.

She smacked her hand into her palm. "I have no idea." She yelled with huge smile.

Gourry fell on his face. "Great, nice plan there Lina." He told her getting back to his feet.

She lightly smacked his arm. "Be nice Gourry. It's not like it's any of our business what Zel wants or doesn't want to do with his time. Besides, Amelia's still sleeping. She'll probably be out for the rest of the day."

As if to prove it the princess gave one loud snore, rolled over suddenly in her sleep, and mumbled loudly that she would not dance with the monkey unless he put his tux on backwards.

"She's gonna mess up her sleep schedules that way." Gourry said, nodding sagely.

Lina sighed. "She has a concussion Gourry. If only her sleeping pattern is messed up then I will be very relieved."

* * *

Amelia didn't wake up until late in the afternoon, after Gourry and Lina had left to find dinner. She was a little upset she had slept through their visit. That plus her groggy mood made for a very sullen attitude that was quickly wearing down on Mister's last nerve.

For the tenth time in half as many minutes Amelia pushed away the assistant healer's hand. "Leave my hair alone. I like it down." She mumbled, weakly fussing with her short, dark hair.

Mister sighed in frustration. "Alright, just let me see your head and I'll let you do whatever you want with your hair." He told her, hoping that agreeing with her would make it easier to inspect her injury.

"M' head's fine." She muttered in dark annoyance.

"No it's not Amelia." Mister said firmly moving her hand away again. "Now let me see your head." He very nearly growled.

Amelia pushed against Mister's weight. The apprentice found she was much stronger then he had expected. She had almost pushed him back when a shadow blocked out what little light was still creeping through the open door.

"Hey guys." Gourry's cheerful voice appeared. "What's up?"

"Mister Gourry!" Amelia yelled gleefully, jumping up from the cot and running to give the swordsman a big hug. However her balance was not even close to what it had once been (and to be honest her balance hadn't been all that great to begin with) and she tripped more then walked across the hut. Fortunately while Gourry wasn't always the brightest man on the earth he was very good at action, which was just what the moment required when Amelia finally lost her meager balance and pitched forward. Gourry only had to stretch out his arms and catch her.

"Whoops." He said as he put her back on her feet. "You better be careful Amelia. I don't think your head is all better yet."

"Nah its fi – fine." She hiccupped the last word.

A groan reminded them that Mister even lived. He sent his patient a sour look as he rubbed the small bump that was quickly turning red near his temple. Amelia had basically been holding his entire body weight up and when she had tripped her way over to her friend, Mister had fallen face first against the metal railing that held up the cot.

"Are you okay Mister?" Gourry asked as he set Amelia back on her cot.

Amelia giggled. "Mr. Mister. Mr. Mister." She said in a sing song voice.

Mister did not look amused, however neither Amelia nor Gourry noticed. "Fine." He spat before storming back to his room.

Gourry looked down at the smiling Amelia. "What's with him?" He asked.

"I wouldn't let him do my hair." She told him.

* * *

It was late as Zelgadis made his way aimlessly down the street that night. The town had gone to bed several hours before and not even the wind disturbed the silence of the night.

What was he doing out here? Zelgadis wished he knew. It was late, he was tired, and it looked like it might pour rain soon. The bruised gray clouds had rolled in early that morning and had neither broken open nor rolled along their gloomy way. It was the perfect night to stay in bed, snuggled deep under numerous sheets and warm blankets, sleeping through storms that tore open the sky and raged through small country towns.

Except that Zelgadis couldn't sleep. Even now as forks of lighting shattered silently through the black sky, he couldn't bring himself to go back to the inn.

His head was too full of, of...of he couldn't even say what. His thoughts were too heavy for sleep or speech, the only two things he knew of to solve problems like this. Instead they remained bottled up inside his head, causing more havoc then the breaking storm.

Thunder followed hot on the tail of the lighting and Zelgadis sighed into the tumult. He wasn't even sure what had brought on this bout of restlessness.

No. That wasn't exactly true.

Every time he closed his eyes he saw that moment when time had frozen and the sound of his heart had beat heavy in his ears. That same scene when the troll's sword slowly fell towards Amelia's open neck circled through his mind over and over and over again. It made Zelgadis's heart spasm painfully all each and every time.

And the worst of it was that he had been as frozen as Amelia had been. He had wanted to leap in front of her, sword ready to block the mad troll's swing, but his muscles were as capable as much movement as the stone he resembled. If it hadn't been for Gourry's quick thinking, Amelia would be dead.

Zelgadis couldn't keep back a snort of laughter at the irony. Gourry's quick thinking. Now there was a once in a lifetime occurrence.

But even thoughts as strange and odd as Gourry thinking couldn't stop the image of Amelia, cold and lifeless, appearing in front of Zelgadis's eyes. It wasn't a fictional image either. When Hellmaster Phibrizzo had crushed Amelia's golden ball and stopped her heart, Zelgadis had felt something in his chest snap. Whether with panic or fear or agony didn't matter. It had broken, and now the fear that Amelia would die again ran loose in Zelgadis's head, dumping adrenaline into his system and making his pulse stutter violently. He was afraid that she would leave them forever.

Leave him forever, if he was being completely honest with himself.

But who needs that kind of honesty at late hours with lighting parting the sky and heavy thunder rolling around in one's head?

Finally the sky broke and rain began to pour down on the dusty town in heavy drops. Soon the street was covered in rivulets of running water that swept away the dirt and dusty grime in the street, cleaning the cobblestones of debris and turning the earth that was not carried away by the growing rivers into mud.

The rain was cold as it fell on Zelgadis's face and ran down his neck under his collar, but it did not clean his mind like it did the city streets. Shoulders hunched against the rain, Zelgadis turned around and made his way back to the inn, his thoughts turning to mud in his head.

* * *

The heavy clouds rolled away early the next morning, taking their rain and thunder with them. The day shone all the clearer for their work though and despite the thick mud left behind in the storm's wake, the streets were bustling with people anxious to feel sunshine on their skin. Even the small streets of Mister's settlement (which no one had bothered to ask the name of, if there was one at all) were filled with more then its usual number of pedestrians, including Lina Inverse and Zelgadis Graywords.

However unlike the other passerby, Lina and Zelgadis were not thrilled to be out and about. In fact they were scowling at each other with looks almost as black as last night's storm clouds.

What had happened to put them in this blackish mood was pitifully simple (but then again you will find that some of the worst fights begin over something pitifully simple and easily avoidable). Lina had gone to get Zelgadis after breakfast. She hadn't expected him to still be sleeping at that late hour. Instead Lina thought that he was just doing something quiet like reading or looking over maps or some such similar thing that she had seen Zelgadis do in his spare time.

But he was sleeping, and he hadn't taken to well to Lina barging through his door yelling, "Good morning sunshine! I saved you some breakfast." So after he had accidentally jumped out of bed, fell on the floor, and landed on his face, Zelgadis immediately chucked the book he had managed to grab before crashing to the floor.

The book hit Lina square in the nose.

Lina stood there shocked, the book's spine still planted between her eyes. After a comically long moment, the book peeled away from Lina's face and landed with an ominous thump on the floor. There was a solid red, rectangle imprinted from Lina's forehead, down her nose, and stopped just before her chin.

Zelgadis looked up and knew he was doomed.

"Now Lina," He tried anyway.

The small sorceresses eyes burned even redder then usual with a horrible fire that threatened to melt Zelgadis's stony skin.

"Zel..." She growled threateningly.

"It was just an accident." He said quickly, looking for a way out. Lina blocked the only door and she wasn't about to give Zel an opening to escape.

After the Lina style beating that, of course, followed, Zelgadis fell into a bit of a sour attitude, which also isn't very surprising. Lina, who had thought she was being nice, wasn't much cheerier.

However she was shocked out of her angry haze when Zelgadis abruptly turned and began to walk the other way. "Hey Zel where are you going? That's the wrong way. Mister's hut is down here." Lina said pointing down the rain cleaned street.

Zelgadis called over his shoulder. "I'm going to look into something about my cure."

"Well what about tonight? It's your turn to stay with Amelia!" Lina yelled after him.

He waved at her but did not look back or say anything.

Lina sighed and ran an aggravated hand through her hair. "Ah Zel." She muttered.

* * *

Zelgadis walked the path out of town, going nowhere in particular. He had lied when he told Lina he was looking into something for his cure, but he had to tell her something to get away from her.

After he reached the inn and gotten out of the rain, Zelgadis had tossed and turned fitfully in his bed. He thought he had dropped off to sleep somewhere near dawn, but he wasn't sure. And then Lina had burst into the room screaming about breakfast and going to see Amelia.

Zelgadis sighed, planted himself on a rock that was not covered in too much mud, and put his head in his hands.

After all his muddled thinking last night, Zelgadis had come to one conclusion. He had finally realized that all his tossing, turning, disquiet, and unsettled thoughts had one common root.

Amelia.

He wasn't sure why it had taken him so long to realize this, but it had, and now here he was, sighing like a love-bewildered teenager and getting mud all over his traveling clothes.

But what was he supposed to do now? Just go and spout all these uncertain and unidentifiable feelings to Amelia who was currently even loonier then her father on his strangest day and probably wouldn't even realize he was talking to her and not her invisible friend Harvey? Was he supposed to just put on the false front of the shining armor of a knight and go pour his heart and all its uncertain contents out into Amelia's waiting hands? Was he supposed to tell her he lov-

A bird's harsh call cut into Zelgadis' thoughts, startling him. The glossy black creature cawed again before it darted off into the air. Zelgadis shook his head, not bothering to finish his interrupted ramblings.

He shot to his feet, the urge to move hitting him as if a hand had come up behind him and shoved him fiercely between the shoulders. He roved for the rest of the day, pacing the mud path that connected the healer's settlement to Sallmine but never going into either town.

It was late afternoon when Zelgadis finally made up his mind.

He stopped mid stride, determination at last overriding his uncertainty. With a strong nod, he made up his mind and turned toward Mister's town. Not thinking on his decision too much unless he gave into his second guesses and turned back around.

He had no idea what he was going to tell Amelia. No idea even what he even wanted to tell her.

But he would tell her something. He needed to.

* * *

Lina didn't see Zelgadis for the rest of the day after he told her that fib about finding something about his cure. For the most part she didn't worry about him. Zelgadis could take care of himself; had done so since before Lina had met him. She didn't even worry about what he was doing. She knew he had been lying about looking for his cure, mainly because the only thing worth having around this dinky little too-small-to-be-a-town was mud. Not even magic mud. Just plain old dirt and water mud. And somehow Lina didn't think that Zelgadis was going to sit in the mud and hope it soaked the golem out of him.

No, what worried Lina the most was what Zelgadis was thinking.

Usually it was only mildly difficult for Lina to get a grip on what was running through the sorcerer's mind, but this afternoon it had been impossible. But a sneaking suspicion was creeping into Lina's mind that that was because Zelgadis himself had no idea _what_ to think right now.

But now it was getting on dark and Lina was beginning to wonder if Zelgadis was coming back at all. She wondered if whatever it was that occupied his thoughts would keep him from staying with Amelia tonight. Personally Lina thought it would help ease his mind if he did spend some time with Amelia, no matter how much sillier she was then usual. Call it woman's intuition or a sorceress's fine senses, but Lina thought that whatever was weighing on Zelgadis's mind had to do with Amelia.

"Do you think we should look for him?" Gourry asked from where he was playing cards with Amelia, who had regained enough of her clear headedness to play go-fish. She was still a long way from whooping Zelgadis at chess again but Mister was still surprised at her progress. Apparently he hadn't expected the go-fishing stage until the end of the week.

Amelia looked up from where she was trying to figure out if she was holding a heart or a spade. She couldn't quite remember which one was supposed to be red. Then she remembered it didn't matter. "Mister Zelgadis still hasn't shown up? Do you think he's okay?" She asked worriedly.

Lina smiled widely. "Of course he's okay. I mean it's Zel we're talking about here. It's not like he's thin skinned or anything." Lina joked, laughing at her own pun.

"Or deaf."

The three friends turned to see their fourth standing in the doorway, looking neither grim nor stoic nor even remotely tickled about anything.

"Oh there you are Zel. We were just talking about you." Lina piped up.

"I heard." Zelgadis said stepping inside the door and leaning against the wall. "Like I said, I'm not deaf."

"Huh?" Lina said.

Zelgadis lowered his eyebrows at her. "You're not funny."

Lina grinned. "Oh of course I am. You just don't have a sense of humor."

Zelgadis sighed in aggravation and ducked his head to stare at the dirt floor. "Cut it out Lina. I'm not in the mood for your games." He told her.

No one had much to say after that.

"Well," Lina said hopping to her feet once the silence had reigned for almost forty minutes. "I think it's time for us to go Gourry. It's getting late after all and I'm starved." She said loudly making her way to the door.

Gourry scratched his blonde head confusedly. "We're leaving now?" He asked.

Lina sighed in annoyance, marched back across the small hut and put Gourry in a headlock. With a startled yelp from Gourry, she dragged him out the door.

"Bye Zel! Bye Amelia, feel better!" Lina called from halfway down the street.

"Bye Miss Lina! Bye Mister Gourry! Enjoy your dinner!" Amelia called after them.

Zelgadis peeked at the energetically waving Amelia from under the cover of his long bangs. Well she seemed to be doing better. She didn't look like she was going to randomly pass out anymore.

Still, better wasn't back to normal. Amelia leaned back against the one pillow on her cot, tired out by her exuberant waving and go-fishing.

Zelgadis stayed where he was and, following the rule that most fourth graders follow when it comes to love, pretended that he didn't know Amelia even existed much less that she was in the same room.

Amelia had taken to fiddling with the strings at the end of her thin blanket when Mister stepped into the room, cutting the heavy silence to shreds with his big smile.

"Hey there Amelia, I brought you some dinner. Are you feeling well enough to eat yet?" Mister asked nicely as he set down a tray that, contrary to everything else in this place, had been polished within an inch of its silver life.

Amelia smiled down at the silver tray and its heavy burden of grayish food. "Thanks Mister I'm really hungry. What's this?" She asked somewhat hesitantly pointing at a blob of mush that was even grayer then the surrounding heaps of mush.

"Oh, those are mashed potatoes. Why, don't they make them like this in Saillune?" Mister asked, his smile faltering just a little.

Amelia's eyebrows twitched together, just the slightest bit. Zelgadis noted her slight apprehension but Mister didn't even notice the nuance. "Why do you ask?" She asked him, her voice beginning to wilt around the edges.

Mister was unaware of the thin ice he was beginning to tread on. "Well I know being the princess you must be used to the finer things in life but I thought that mashed potatoes covered all walks of life. Even if my grandma's pot turns everything, um, gray." Mister added, absentmindedly frowning at the monochromatic food sitting on the edge of Amelia's cot.

"Oh." Amelia said giving her tray the same disappointed look Mister gave it, although for very different reasons. "I see."

When she didn't touch her food Mister turned to her and asked, "Well aren't you going to eat?"

"Huh?" Amelia asked, dragging her attention from whatever was preoccupying her mind. "Oh, yes, but there's no fork or anything." She told him, searching for the item that wasn't there.

Mister looked humiliated. "Sorry, sorry. I'll go get one." He said, practically running off to what served as the kitchen.

If Zelgadis had not been quite so jealous he probably wouldn't have smirked as Mister dashed away. But he was so he did. He didn't really bother to try to hide the expression when the young man came rushing back either, missing silverware in hand.

"Here. Best Mrs. Lockly has." He announced proudly, handing her a hastily polished fork.

Amelia's smile was weak at best, but once again Mister didn't seem to notice her lack of spirits. "Thanks." She said softly.

Mister's smile turned bashful at Amelia's look. He started to say something that Zelgadis thought might have been, "It's nothing," when the apprentice healer backed into an abandoned stool and almost tripped.

Zelgadis snorted. Fortunately nobody heard it above the clatter Mister was making as he tried to escape his humiliation. With one last, loud stumble Mister made it to his back room.

Amelia's muffled giggle made Zelgadis look up. She was trying so hard not to laugh, but failing miserably. Her laughter fed Zelgadis's and soon they were laughing too hard to even bother with trying to hide it. Mister must have fled the hut altogether because there was no miserable, humiliated groaning from the other room.

Eventually they regained control of their laughter. "W-we really shouldn't laugh. That must be so embarrassing." Amelia said, covering her smile, and beginning to feel sorry for the young healer.

Zelgadis had very little sympathy for the other man. He found Mister's attentions to Amelia annoying. Besides, he had left the stool there to trip over later.

"Would you like to play cards with me?" Amelia asked picking up the deck Gourry had left behind. Amelia had found out early on in her journeys with the others that Gourry always carried a deck of cards with him. He had said he had learned from experience that dullness struck at the most inopportune times; much like enemies did, so he always carried cards with him. "If nothing else," he told her, "I can play solitaire."

However Amelia had noticed that Gourry did not know how to play solitaire. He also called the spades shovels.

Zelgadis looked from Amelia's open face to the cards in her hand and, with a small smile pulling at his face, sat down on the box Gourry had been using earlier. "What do you want to play?" He asked, wondering how long it had been since he had played cards. He thought the last time might have been when Daniel had tried to teach him Hearts, some eight years ago.

Amelia smiled somewhat apologetically. "Well I can't keep the card suites straight so all I can manage is Go Fish."

A genuine smile touched Zelgadis' face. "Go Fish is fine. That's about all I know how to play." He admitted.

Amelia dealt five cards to them both with only a little hesitation as she tried to remember which number she was on.

"One more." Zelgadis told her helpfully.

She smiled, nodded, and put one more card in each of their hands. "Thanks. So," She said picking up her cards. "Got any twos?"

Zelgadis shook his head. "Nope, go fish. Got any sevens?"

"No. Go fish."

After a few more minutes, Amelia had collected three pairs and Zelgadis had gotten all four kings from Amelia.

"Are you hungry at all?" Zelgadis asked as he put the kings on the table.

Amelia shrugged. "Yes." She said picking up another card.

Zelgadis raised an eyebrow at her. "Then why don't you eat? Got any fives?"

"No, and I don't want to eat. Have any queens?"

"Why?" Zelgadis asked as he handed over his queen.

"Thank you." Amelia said happily taking the card. "And I just don't want to eat mashed potatoes." She said giving the food in question a wary look.

Zelgadis didn't blame her. The potatoes looked like they had been rotting in the ground for the past decade and they didn't smell much better.

They played a few more minutes in silence.

"It's not just the food is it?" Zelgadis asked watching Amelia's face.

Dark clouds covered Amelia's usually bright blue eyes. "No." She muttered, glowering at her cards.

Zelgadis waited.

His patience paid off. Not even a minute later Amelia threw down her cards. "I'm tired of people treating me different." She said in frustration.

"Because you're a princess?" Zelgadis ventured, putting his cards down as well.

Amelia nodded. "They always want something. They either want me to talk to Daddy for them or sign this treaty or marry this prince-"

"Marry?" Zelgadis started. He couldn't help it. He had never thought about Amelia marrying someone. Not really anyway.

Amelia nodded glumly. "Daddy says the choice is always mine but I still have to do what's best for Saillune don't I?"

She seemed to be honestly asking his opinion.

Zelgadis pulled in a deep breath and thought about what he wanted to say. But then he saw that trusting, open look on Amelia's face and he quickly threw out what he wanted to say and tried to think of what he needed to say.

"I think," he started slowly, "that you do need to think of Saillune."

Amelia's face fell. "Oh,"

"But," Zelgadis wasn't finished yet. "But not at the expense of your own happiness."

A spark of shock flashed into Amelia's wide blue eyes. "Really?" She asked.

Zelgadis suddenly felt rather uncomfortable. "Well I don't think your father would be very happy if you weren't. He loves you more then anything Amelia." Zelgadis said suddenly finding his cards very interesting.

"Oh," Amelia said. "Yes of course."

They spent the next few moments in silence as Zelgadis tried to screw up the courage to say what he had been so determined to tell Amelia that afternoon.

"Amelia," Zelgadis tried once he thought he had scraped up enough courage. Amelia looked up at him curiously. Unfortunately Zelgadis's gathered courage had all gone into saying her name. Now his mouth hung open like a dead fish.

"Yes?" Amelia asked when Zelgadis didn't speak. There was hopefulness in her eyes that made Zelgadis press forward, courage or not.

"You terrify me." He said.

"What?" Amelia asked startled. This was not the sort of confession she had been hoping for.

But Zelgadis wasn't about to take it back. "Well you do. You terrify me out of my wits most days. You're always getting into trouble. Always tripping on your face when you're trying to save somebody. And why you always insist on climbing trees to give speeches about justice to groups of bandits that just want to kill you I will never know."

Amelia was at a complete loss. She wasn't even sure if she should be insulted or not. But she saw that Zelgadis still had more to say, so she stayed quiet.

"But when," he swallowed hard, "when that troll was about to kill you, I thought," He swallowed hard, feeling more vulnerable then if he had decided to go up against a horde of trolls without sword or magic. He took a breath to steel his courage and plunged forward, trying to pretend he didn't have anything to lose by being completely honest. "I thought that my heart would crack in two." He told her, not meeting her eyes. "There's already a large rift in it from when Phibrizzo killed you. And as much as you scare me with your suddenness and open ways, it was even more frightening to think that you would be gone forever." He told her, still staring at the cards scattered across the dingy white sheets.

Amelia was quite shocked. For a moment she wondered if this might just be another delusion brought on by the sizable dent in her head. But then she decided that if it was she rather liked it.

So, bearing in mind that this might just be a wonderful dream she would have to wake up from sooner rather then later, Amelia asked something she wouldn't have if she had been a hundred percent sure this was real.

"Do, do you mean you love me Zelgadis?" She asked, hope coloring her voice.

Zelgadis looked up, whether at the question or the lack of the 'mister' that Amelia usually seemed to think was part of his name was unclear. Amelia found that she was holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

"Yes I think I do." Zelgadis said looking surprised at his own admission.

The spark that Zelgadis had seen earlier in Amelia's eyes grew into a ray that lit up her eyes from the inside so that they were no longer blue but sapphire or cerulean or some other ornate, lovely sounding color. Zelgadis thought it would be easy to get lost in eyes when they shone like that.

But her eyes were not nearly as beautiful as her smile, which lit up her face, making her look like a star in the growing darkness of the hut.

Without warning Amelia shot forward and threw her arms around Zelgadis's neck, making him fall backwards. She was alternating between laughing like a maniac and sobbing hysterically. Briefly Zelgadis wondered if he should go and get help because apparently Amelia had lost whatever un-dented wits she had had left.

But then he finally made out what she was saying. "You love me." She sobbed.

Zelgadis panicked, but only just a little bit. "I-I'll take it back if you really can't stand it. Just please stop crying." He very nearly begged.

Amelia hit him, right in the shoulder, hard enough to make him wince. "Don't you dare take it back." She told him fiercely, and then abruptly softened. "Because I love you too." She murmured, her face turning slightly pink.

Zelgadis felt his mouth drop open, but paid little attention to it. She loved him. _Him_ of all people.

For a moment they sat there, unaware of anything except the shocking revelation that they were loved. True, if anyone else had been watching, and they had known Zelgadis or Amelia even remotely, they would not have been surprised at their confessions. But then again, sometimes stranger's have a better view of others' feelings, especially when the people involved are practically blind to another's intentions.

However no one was around and gradually the fact that they loved each other sank in to Zelgadis's and Amelia's heads.

They also became suddenly and intensely aware that Amelia was practically sitting on Zelgadis with her arms thrown about his neck and their faces not an inch apart.

For a moment they stared at each other. Their shared gaze was intense as much from the close distance as from the extreme emotion that usually comes with those three little words they had said.

Amelia knew what she wanted to happen and, hoping that Zelgadis just needed a little encouragement, twitched forward just the slightest bit. She was close enough now that Zelgadis could feel her breath on his chin. He was suddenly very grateful that Amelia hadn't eaten those mashed potatoes. No one needed that rancid smell on their breath when they were asking for kisses.

Then Zelgadis realized he was just trying to divert himself from Amelia's unspoken question with unrecognizable, gray, lumpy pulp.

As Zelgadis stared into Amelia's bright blue eyes, his heartbeat began to beat loudly in his ears and time slowed to match its rhythm.

Thump, thump.

Amelia's blue eyes slowly closed as she pressed close to Zelgadis. Funny, he thought he could feel her heart beating just as slow and loud as his.

Thump, thump, it went.

Zelgadis leaned forward, closing the gap between them. Their mouths met in the middle.

I suppose I could go on about how perfect and lovely their first kiss was, but anything I said along those lines would be a bald face lie. Truthfully their kiss was hesitant since both Amelia and Zelgadis had little experience with the sensation. Still whenever they looked back at that day, they would always remember that awkward little kiss as beautiful, if only because it marked the start of a life long love that neither could fully imagine at the time.

* * *

There is not much left to say now. Nothing quite so interesting happened during the remaining three days that Amelia stayed in the healer's hut. Lina stayed with her the next night just as they had planned originally and there were no more kisses until a few days after the small group left and they were as short and awkward as the first had been, although possibly sweeter by far.

Well, I suppose there was _one_ important question that I left out.

"Zelgadis?" Amelia asked sounding somewhat shy as they walked down the dirt road out of Mister's small village towards the last stretch of woods that lay between the group and Saillune's borders. "I was wondering…" Amelia trailed off as her face turned red and she looked at the gravel beneath her feet. "Well…"

Zelgadis turned and waited for Amelia to finish her question with a mix of patience and curiosity. He couldn't think of what Amelia might be trying to ask him. "Yes?" He asked when it appeared that her words were trapped under her tongue.

Amelia's usual courage reappeared and she looked up to meet Zelgadis's eyes, however he did notice that her blush stayed where it was.

"Well I was thinking," she said, "that when we get back to Saillune, I could show you around the city. The last time you were there you didn't get to see much outside the palace what with the monsters and Daddy pretending to be dead and all." She finished, unpleasant memories of that trip resurfacing in her mind, but she quickly shook them off and looked at Zelgadis expectantly.

Zelgadis admitted his shock if only to himself. He had heard Amelia say she loved him and he did not doubt that she did, however in Zelgadis's experience, love, even true love, could be fleeting. Not temporary, but fleeting. Life happened. People died. People left. People changed. And not just uncaring, selfish people; people who loved their family and friends more then anything died every day, leaving their loved ones with gaping holes in their hearts and wondering what to do now. Love's life felt short, especially in the face of the grief that usually followed. But dating seemed to imply Amelia wanted a more...lasting relationship.

At least, that was how it seemed to Zelgadis. To the rest of us this might seem more then a little backwards. However Zelgadis would be the first to admit that he could be wrong. He knew precious little of love and happily-ever-after's. And all he had learned of them had been when he was very young, before his parent's had died. Since then he had largely been left alone. Now he was in uncharted waters without anything but sea on all sides.

To put it bluntly, he was completely clueless.

"Zelgadis?" Amelia's unsure voice brought Zelgadis back to the question at hand. He still hadn't answered Amelia.

A small part of Zelgadis's mind (the part that asked questions to postpone important answers) asked if he even wanted a long term relationship with Amelia in the first place.

The rest of Zelgadis's mind yelled, "Heck yes!" and heartily whacked the delaying part.

"Alright." Zelgadis finally answered Amelia. "That's sounds...nice."

And he meant it too, despite his pitiable word choice.

Amelia's wide, joyful smile bloomed across her face, making her glow slightly even in the daylight. However she quickly tamped down on her urge to squeak happily and somehow managed to keep her feet on the ground.

Lina slyly glanced at her friends over her shoulder. "About time." She muttered.

Gourry chuckled next to her and nodded. "You said it." He said looking over at Lina with a bright smile on his face.

Lina felt a blush spread itself across her face as she caught Gourry's smile, her conversation with Amelia jumping unbidden to the front of her mind. Suddenly she couldn't bring herself to meet Gourry's blue gaze.

Not wanting to be caught blushing, Lina quickly cleared her throat and threw her fist into the air with exaggerated cheer. "Alright then come on guys. It's off to Saillune!" She yelled.

"To Saillune!" Amelia yelled, punching the air excitedly. Then without warning she grabbed Zelgadis's hand and began to run down the road, dragging him after her.

"I bet we beat you there Miss Lina!" Amelia yelled over her shoulder.

Zelgadis caught on quick. "Yeah," He yelled back to Lina and Gourry. "Whoever reaches the city last has to buy the others dinner."

Lina forgot her embarrassment in the face of a challenge (and the prospect of free food). "What? Yeah right! Come on Gourry, we can't let them win! They're about to buy us dinner!" She yelled, grabbing Gourry's hand and pulling him forward.

Gourry laughed, glad things were finally back to normal.

Well, the new normal anyway.

~The End~


End file.
